MASHPEE – More local towns are finalizing how they will spend their share of the opioid settlement money from two national settlements, including Mashpee.
The town has received about $153,000, which Human Services Director Gail Wilson said will go towards an annual funding program open to nonprofits specializing in drug use prevention.
“We hope to get this application to the public later this month. We have a three member panel that will be reviewing the applications as they come in, with later approval by the human services committee,” said Wilson.
The town will receive a total of $727,000 over a period of 17 years from the settlement. Money for the program still needs to be approved at May’s town meeting.
“We hope to have it available this month with a deadline of June 1, for funds to be dispersed the fiscal year starting July 1 after approval at town meeting in May. The second round of applications will be a deadline of November 1 with a disbursement of December 1,” said Human Services Committee Member Coreen Whipple.
Sale of the drug could start as soon as late summer.
State officials with the Department of Public Health recently reported that opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts rose by almost 9 percent in 2021 compared to the year prior.
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